ServiceNow Invests $40M in Indian Banking Firm BusinessNext at $700M Valuation
The deal gives the enterprise automation giant a foothold in India's rapidly AI-transforming financial services sector.
ServiceNow has taken a roughly 5% stake in BusinessNext, a 24-year-old Indian banking software specialist, through a $40 million investment that values the company at $700 million. The partnership will see both companies jointly sell AI-powered banking solutions, combining BusinessNext's customer-facing workflows with ServiceNow's back-office automation capabilities.
BusinessNext, which rebranded from CRMNext in 2022, serves more than 70 financial institutions including the Reserve Bank of India, State Bank of India, and HDFC Bank. The company generated approximately $32 million in revenue last year, with half coming from international markets.
Sharp Valuation Jump
The investment marks a significant jump from BusinessNext's previous valuation of $181 million in 2021, according to Tracxn data. Founded in 2002, the company has spent years developing an autonomous banking platform that uses AI agents to automate workflows while maintaining private AI infrastructure for regulatory compliance.
"Think of it as a strategic partnership, which is cemented with funding," said Nishant Singh, founder and CEO of BusinessNext.
ServiceNow's Financial Services Push
ServiceNow, a leader in enterprise workflow automation, is expanding beyond its traditional IT and HR focus into specialized industry-specific AI tools. The deal provides ServiceNow with fast-track access to the high-growth Indian and global banking markets by leveraging BusinessNext's domain expertise and existing relationships with major central and commercial banks.
"India's financial services sector is at an inflection point — institutions are moving from digital experimentation to full-scale AI-led operations," said Kulmeet Bawa, ServiceNow's group vice president and managing director for India and SAARC.
Broader Industry Shift
The partnership highlights a strategic shift where legacy SaaS providers are partnering with or investing in AI-native specialists to defend against emerging AI-first competitors. For BusinessNext, the ServiceNow backing validates its two-decade build in banking software and provides capital to scale its autonomous banking platform globally.
The deal underscores how traditional enterprise software giants are racing to embed AI capabilities across vertical markets, with financial services representing a particularly attractive target given the sector's regulatory complexity and demand for secure, compliant automation.